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Forums - Discs & Movies - UMDs

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I lifted this little tid bit from the DVD Review website: The sharp decline in sales has caused Paramount, Universal and Image to drop production of the format while Buena Vista and Fox have sharply reduced production on the discs. Even Sony is slowing the production of discs, but are optimistic that the potential for compatibility with television sets in the near future may reinvigorate the format. ....Ahhhh and maybe the minidisc too? Start digging the hole for Blue Ray Disc.

DivineWaters wrote: Thanks for the links. I'm not really looking for software for the PSP. I doubt I'll ever buy one. Not that much of a gamer. I'm just looking for anything that can rip a DVD smoothly and encode to avi. *******

I use ImTOO DVD Ripper platinum, it lets you rip and convert to PSP (MP4) and LOADS of other formats, it also has a "Transfer to PSP mode" in the tools tab.

I also use DVD shrink to rip, and PSP video 9 to convert and transfer.

Mal, your whole point about the Apple/Ipod is the whole reason I will not buy an Ipod. Well, that and the fact that it is such a bad design that there is no user replaceable battery. Cell phones all have user replaceable batteries in that form factor. Why can't Ipods?

It will be interesting to see what happens to Apple/Ipod. France is considering legislation to make the Ipod/Itunes more consumer friendly and they are being sued by Apple Corp (owned by the former Beatles) in the UK I think.

True, they are a respected brand but quality in my opinion has decreased in the last decade, or their competitors have got better at producing equal products for the same or less price.

Their next plan to dominate the ebook world using the Apple/Ipod approach... here might work. The idea is to offer both the hardware and a service to buy the books online. The device is quite good because it uses that new eInk screen technology (so very low battery usage). These sorts of closed technologies do work provided you go after a niche and get in there early on.

Mal wrote: I wonder if Sony would exist today if it weren't for the almost chance-like decision to produce the original PlayStation? The way they keep going for proprietary technology deters potential customers.

I think without a doubt they would exist. Would it be the same company? Who knows. Sony has a great reputation for TVs, at least back in the tube days. I wouldn't have considered buying anything other than a Sony and I was happy to pay a premium for it.

I'm surprised Sony didn't learn from Minidisc more for the launch of UMD. They should have just offered a way to record to UMDs from existing DVDs instead of trying to launch of new format that only works on a tiny screen and includes no bonus features.

VideoHelp should answer your question, they have loads conversion tutorials for both free and commercial software, might take a while finding the right one though. I used it in the past to convert Quicktime Video to DVD for example.

I'm impressed by that GP2X by the way, looks like it could become something big, just needs lots of people working on the software/games... those interested: http://gp2x.co.uk/

That GP2X is interesting, I have an ancient Archos Jukebox Recorder 20, which was good but when I installed the open source Rockbox firmware as a replacement it became a whole new device. Any gadget that's open source has got my vote.

Sorry no idea on software for the PSP. The stuff I've used was commercial software designed specifically to produce files for the Pocket PC specs. http://www.videohelp.com might be one place to look, another is http://www.doom9.net - both are useful for messing about with video files.

Mal wrote: If I owned a PSP I would just convert my DVDs to video files and transfered onto memory - used to do this with my PocketPC, storing them on the SD card. Speaking of which, can anyone recommend any good software for DVD ripping? I don't know much on the subject..I tried one or two and neither worked that well. As for UMDs, I'm still debating whether to buy a PSP or order a GP2X. I'm really leaning towards the latter after all I've read about its video-playing compatibility.

Mal wrote: If I owned a PSP I would just convert my DVDs to video files and transfered onto memory - used to do this with my PocketPC, storing them on the SD card.

I completely agree. The UMD movie is just another way of extracting more filthy lucre from our already diminishing wallets, and into the extremely fatter wallets of the studios. Just rip, convert and store. Save yourself some bucks.

And I mean movies that you already bought and own on DVD, for all you anti-piracy peeps out there!

I think its some back cataloug stuff that Sony are releasing. So as well as being able to buy e.g Resident Evil 2 on DVD, you have the option of spending a cpl of pounds/dollars/yen more and getting a DVD/UMD pack. I dont know whether Sony will do the same with new releases. It would make more sense to as ive already got Resident Evil 2 on DVD and have no plans to buy it again. But might however buy a DVD/UMB pack of a film I didnt have

Asking people to buy movies that they more than likely already own on DVD on a lesser, proprietary format--and at an inflated price to boot--was a pretty stupid idea to begin with. You'd think that Sony would have learned their lesson from the Minidisc, another winner of an idea.